LONG BEACH — UC Santa Barbara was a three-peat winner in its Big West Conference women’s basketball opener Thursday, making 14-of-28 of the long shots to beat Long Beach State, 67-52, for its sixth victory in a row.
But coach Renee Jimenez believes her Gauchos will need to do more if they want to go a long way this season.
“We executed offensively with great shooting and 19 assists on 23 field goals,” she began. “But we’ve got to improve our rebounding and learn how to close out games if we want to reach our potential.
“Defensively, there were stretches where we lost focus, and those moments add up in tight games.”
At 7-1, UCSB is off to its best start since winning seven of its first eight games in the 2022-23 season.
The Gauchos were ranked No. 15 in this week’s CollegeInsider Mid-Major poll and No. 58 in the NCAA’s first NET computer power rating of the season.
They also entered the game ranked sixth nationally in three-pointers per game (10.4) and ninth in three-point percentage (39.4%). They improved their per-game average to 10.9 and their percentage to 40.8% with Thursday’s performance.
Senior guard Jessica Grant came off the bench to make 5-of-12 three-pointers to lead UCSB with 15 points.
Zoe Borter (14 points, 3-for-5 from three) and Zoe Shaw (12 points, 4-for-5 from three) were also deadly from beyond the arc. They also each contributed five rebounds and four assists.
Olivia Bradley added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds while Maddie Naro contributed six rebounds and six assists.
But Jimenez found fault with UCSB’s “inconsistent rebounding” while finishing with an edge of just 38-36 on the backboards.
“It has to be equally as important to them as their shooting, or it will haunt us,” she said.
The Gauchos made 9-of-13 threes in the first half alone to take a 41-30 lead. They increased the margin to 20 points, 54-34, with a pair of free throws by Chauncey Andersen with 3:50 left in the third quarter.
But Long Beach (0-7) got back into the game by outscoring UCSB 10-0 to start the fourth quarter. Rosie Akot’s layup whittled the Gauchos’ lead to 60-50 with 3:50 to go.
Julia Puente-Valverde’s three finally ended a 4½-minute scoring drought for UCSB.
“The encouraging part is that everything we need to fix is within our control,” Jimenez said. “If we stay committed to the little things like finishing possessions, communicating and staying poised late, we’ll put ourselves in position to win consistently.”
UCSB will return to action on Saturday with a 2 p.m. game at Cal State Bakersfield.